The ERG and the choice between Hunt and BoJo No-Show
Why are some MP's so anti the EU? Yes - the EU is an imperfect organisation - but name any organisation that is perfect. How about our beloved National Health Service? Perfect? - I don't think so. Almost daily we have stories of our NHS where break-downs in the procedure, communication, security, drug supply etc. have occurred.
I don't know that a perfect organisation exists anywhere, except in mind.
I suspect the real reason these MP's are so hot under the collar and anti the EU is that they have had their wings clipped. Their power of Parliament is not absolute. There is a higher authority - The EU. And they don't like it. But that is how things are when you are part of a team.
It is aggravating when the European High Court over-rules our own Supreme Court and prevents the extradition of a terrorist, for instance, but it is the same for everyone. Those are the rules of the team.
The bottom line is these ERG MP's are behaving like petulant teenagers and the people they have also persuaded to be anti-EU are either uninformed or living in an age of nostalgia that no longer exists.
The world is getting smaller - we need to come together and work as one - not drive wedges of division between ourselves. That is a highly dysfunctional and self-harming action. We need to work as a team. Think of the iconic - Business's, Rugby wins - Bees - Without Teamwork, it is a mess. Without Teamwork - it doesn't work. The great cohesive Teams always win.
After all the turmoil and misinformation and botched negotiations, we need a leader who can heal and find a compromise and bring people back together. The likely harm that ordinary people will have to endure to satisfy the egos of the ERG members withdrawal from the EU without a deal will be beyond measure.
The tragedy is that few are facing this truth, or even acknowledging it. If not another vote then we certainly need a compromise. This was never about a landslide win for the ERG and Brexiteers - it was a close run result, and the 48.5% of the nation who voted to stay in the EU cannot be ignored and left out of our society. Furthermore, if another poll was held, the result could easily be the other way.
Right now, the United Kingdom feels very diss-united, and with a very small amount of people, about to vote on our country's future leader there is a palpable feeling of a lack of Democracy.
Holding another poll could be real Democracy. It would be a healing process. What has anyone got to fear from this, except the people who want to drive division and fear?
Johnston looks most likely to win this upcoming "farce of an election" amongst the conservative members - but as I have previously intermated, his reign will probably be short-lived.
Short of another referendum on staying in or leaving the EU - the only possible remedy is to vote for Mr Hunt. He, with his calmer and more strategic and less offensive attitude, at least has a chance of taking us all out of the EU - on good terms and as a nation, still intact.
If Borris Johnson wins - yes it will be a win for him but I predict a very short-term win and far worse, it will be the end of the Conservative Party as we know it today.
Borris Johnson has not had the courage of his convictions; he has consistently shied away from any public debate or scrutiny because he is frightened and knows he would be found out.
His temperament, character and lack of leadership skill would be laid bare for all to see, which is why his advisers are keeping him away from any form of public accountability or scrutiny. Boris is I am afraid, utterly unreliable and incapable of being a leader who can care for a whole nation.
I am fairly sure that if Boris is elected, at best it will be a short-lived and pyrrhic victory that will end in tears for the Conservative Party because they will have lost the support of the heart and soul of the centre ground.
Rick - Suffolk - UK - 10th August - 2019
rick@notesfromengland